No comparison between Trump and Reagan: McCain

People near Trump have often compared him with Reagan, who helped end the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the US and established the architecture of nuclear arms control in a series of high-profile meetings with then-Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
 
In an interview with CNN on Sunday, the Arizona Republican was asked if he sees Trump as a “Reagan-like figure.”
 
“No I don’t,” McCain said bluntly.
 
"And I think it's pretty clear that there's a difference between, well, aren't we killers and the guy that stood there and said, 'Mr. Gorbachev, take down this wall,'" he said, referring to Reagan’s 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall.
 
McCain also slammed Trump’s recent interview in which the billionaire said the American government has "a lot of killers" and is not "so innocent.”
 
“He spoke out for the captive nations, he spoke out for the people who were behind the Iron Curtain," McCain said about Reagan. "And after the Iron Curtain fell, there were thousands who said ‘I heard Ronald Reagan, I listened to the voice of America, I listened to Radio Free Europe — he gave us hope.”
 
“That’s a pretty big difference,” the senator insisted.
 
In February, asked by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly if he respected Putin, Trump replied, “I do respect Putin.”
 
“I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with them,” Trump added. “He is a leader of his country. I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not and if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS (ISIL) which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world, major fight, that’s a good thing.”
 
Before entering the White House, Trump repeatedly praised Putin and called for closer ties between Washington and Moscow, despite allegations that Russia had interfered in the 2016 US presidential election.
 
Relations between Washington and Moscow deteriorated during the administration of former President Barack Obama over the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.